Destruction of Flight Controllers’ Tape, Day of 9/11

This is a news item pertaining to the Complete 911 Timeline investigative project, one of several grassroots investigations being hosted on the History Commons website. The data published as part of this investigation has been collected, organized, and published by members of the public who are registered users of this website.

One of the main focuses at the 9/11 Timeline recently has been the destruction of a tape of FAA flight controllers’ recollections. The tape was made at the FAA’s New York Center about an hour and a half after the attacks ended, despite worries about the procedure by a union official and the controllers. However, when New York Center forwarded evidence about the attacks to the FBI the next day, it did not provide the tape , and its existence was not reported to superiors . The controllers then prepared written statements without reviewing the tape , and a union official was concerned whether anyone had heard it. One of the controllers later asked to listen to the taped statement he had made, but his request was denied . When New York Center submitted a formal accident package, the tape was again absent . Although the Center had been told to retain 9/11 evidence , the tape was later destroyed. Following the tape’s destruction, the manager who destroyed it was suspended , but did not face criminal charges. A later Transportation Department report simply attributed the tape’s destruction to “poor judgment.”